Men at HMP Forest Bank spent very little time unlocked, and inspectors rated purposeful activity there as poor. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell. The grade had fallen from reasonably good at the previous inspection in 2019.
The inspectorate’s report, published in May 2022, followed a visit between 14 and 25 February 2022. Forest Bank is a reception prison for men in Manchester, taking prisoners from the courts. Sodexo had run it for well over 20 years. It held 1,354 men at the time, against an operational capacity of 1,366.
Inspectors also found real signs of recovery. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor described Forest Bank as “a prison in transition”. He said inspectors heard repeatedly that a visit some months earlier would have found a prison in real difficulties.
The grades
The inspectorate judges prisons against four healthy prison tests. At Forest Bank these covered safety, respect, purposeful activity, and rehabilitation and release planning.
Inspectors rated safety not sufficiently good and respect reasonably good, the same as in 2019. They judged purposeful activity poor, the lowest grade. Rehabilitation and release planning also declined, to reasonably good.
At the 2019 inspection, inspectors made 29 recommendations, eight of them on areas of key concern. Progress since then was limited. Of three key safety recommendations, the prison had achieved one. It had partially achieved one of three on respect. It had achieved neither of the recommendations on purposeful activity or on release planning.
The report noted that COVID-19 restrictions had made the shortage of purposeful activity worse. Inspectors said they had taken account of the prison’s recovery from the pandemic in their judgements.
Forest Bank is a prison in transition. We were told repeatedly that had we visited some months before, we would have found a prison in real difficulties.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
A rectification notice and a new start
In late 2021, HM Prison and Probation Service issued Sodexo with a formal rectification notice. It did so over concerns about the safety of prisoners and the conditions in which they lived.
Charlie Taylor called this a concerning step. But he said the company had responded quickly and positively, for example by recruiting a new director and deputy director. Decisive action had brought a noticeable recent improvement in living conditions. Leaders had also identified new priorities on safety, though their plans still needed more work.
He wrote that there were “some very hopeful signs of stability and improvement”. Even so, the prison still had some significant weaknesses.
Space was a basic problem. Forest Bank received about 300 new prisoners a month and could not always house them all. On an almost daily basis, significant numbers went to other prisons out of the area instead. Inspectors said this affected the men and undermined the prison’s core mission.
Violence, drugs and safety
Recorded violence had fallen, but violence between prisoners remained very high. It was the fourth highest among comparable prisons. In the inspectorate’s survey, 24% of men said they felt unsafe. Use of force, segregation and disciplinary measures all stayed high, and inspectors saw some concerning examples of potentially dangerous practice.
Measures to stop drugs and other illicit items getting in had started to work. In the survey, 40% of prisoners said drugs were easy to obtain. That compared with 26% at similar prisons, but 61% at Forest Bank in 2019. Staff did not carry out all the cell searches requested, which inspectors called a missed opportunity.
Recorded self-harm had dropped by about 20% since 2019 and now matched other local prisons. There had been two self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection. Leaders had still to put in place all of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s recommendations. Prisoners could not reliably reach a Listener, a prisoner trained by the Samaritans to offer confidential support.
Nearly a quarter of officers had less than a year’s experience. Many lacked confidence and showed reluctance to enforce rules and confront poor behaviour.
Daily life, education and release
Staff were committed to doing a decent job, and 71% of prisoners said staff treated them with respect. But very limited unlock made it hard to build meaningful relationships. Half of the men lived in overcrowded and cramped cells, and many toilets lacked proper screening. Only 16% said staff answered cell bells promptly, against 26% at similar prisons.
Prisoners received all their meals at the cell door, which inspectors called disrespectful. Health care leadership was generally good, and substance misuse and pharmacy services were good too.
Ofsted judged the overall learning and skills provision inadequate, its lowest grade. Inspectors said leaders showed limited ambition to improve the regime. They concluded that the prison needed to rethink what a useful regime looked like. It also needed a new approach to resettlement for a largely short-stay population.
Since the inspection
Inspectors have reported on Forest Bank again since. An independent review of progress followed in February 2023, and a full inspection report in March 2025.
About this story
This story is based on HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on HMP Forest Bank, published on 31 May 2022, following an inspection that ended in February 2022. It covers an earlier inspection: the prison’s profile has the latest findings. All figures and judgements are the inspectorate’s. Read the full inspection report · See the prison’s profile in our directory.
